On the record: Kate Nielsen, president, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham

Kate Nielsen, president of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, poses at the organization located in downtown Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. (The Birmingham News/Michelle Campbell)

From education to recreation, a lot that has happened in this city has received cash and little-known assistance from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

Now in its 50th year, the foundation this year took on its most public project to date -- soliciting ideas as part of a contest on what to do with a parking lot next to the Railroad Park and promising $50,000 to the winner and the implementation of that idea. More than 2,000 people have registered on the Prize2theFuture website and more than 250 ideas have been submitted.

The contest is dubbed the "Next Big Thing," but the Community Foundation's president, Kate Nielsen, believes many big things are set to happen in Birmingham.

With a $14 million pot of money as part of a Catalyst Fund and momentum for change, she may be right.

KATE NIELSEN

Title: president, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

Age: 56.

Hometown: Birmingham.

Education: Bachelor's degree in political science, Wheaton College (Massachusetts).

Career: Joined Community Foundation in 1995 as its first development officer; became president in 2000.

Hobbies: Travel, golf, reading.

Family: Married with three children, one grandchild.What's on your iPod: "I listen to NPR and Soul Town (Sirius XM station)."

Last book read: "A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me" by Condoleezza Rice

The Community Foundation is involved in so many different things in the community, but it is often behind the scenes. What are some of things people may not be aware the foundation is involved with?

The things in our past are things like the United Way Food Bank that we helped start. More recently we were involved in the three parks initiative and around the same time we took a leadership role in the "Yes We Can, Birmingham" education initiative. We're already starting to see the fruits of those labors to focus education on the children and what's happening there. We were very instrumental in forming the Cultural Alliance and their implementation of the cultural master plan. They're doing great work that is very important to the vibrancy or our community and they're doing great work in keeping the arts in the curriculum of Birmingham City schools.

You've stepped out from behind the scenes to get out in front with "The Next Big Thing." How did that come about?

It has been very exciting. What's most exciting to me is, like everything else, it comes from the community. We find that is the key to any success we may have in this community -- that it comes from what the community wants for itself. When we began to look at what we might want for the next 50 years, we were charged to take on big projects. The community responded by helping us build this new pool of funds.

The other exciting thing is we intend to implement the winning idea. I can't emphasize this enough: This is not just to get ideas, but we're committed to implementing the winning idea.

Every time I go by the new Railroad Park -- and I hate to admit how often that is so that you will see how obsessed I am -- I wonder what we did before we had this park. When you listen to the community, great things will happen and the park is a perfect example of that.

The foundation is stepping out in front at a time when so much change is happening -- from new elected leadership to the Birmingham Business Alliance's Blueprint Birmingham. Where does the foundation fit into this change?

The timing of "The Next Big Thing" and Prize2theFuture is enhanced by the great leadership that's in place -- elected leadership and business leadership so committed to the future. We have so many projects going on like the airport, Fair Park, Red Mountain Park, the Birmingham Zoo. There are communities out there that would be happy to have one of those things and here we have five to 10 things going on at the same time that are so important to our future.

The Prize2theFuture is not coming at the expense of what the foundation already does, is it?

No. This is really an add-on. We're so blessed to have our community funds, which are our flexible dollars, that we use to award grants twice a year with our new results framework. We're focusing on results we want for our community -- education, health care, vital community -- all of those things will continue.

Just like the foundation is working on different fronts, its work is really one of multiple fronts we're seeing in the Birmingham area, isn't it?

Absolutely. You have the BBA's Blueprint Birmingham, UAB's master plan, and what the Community Foundation is doing has us all moving in the same direction. That kind of synergy speaks so well to the future. The word "future" speaks not just to the future of our community, but to future generations. Putting the emphasis on new ideas really speaks to the next generation and that is an important aspect of all of this.

We often hear how generous and philanthropic people in Birmingham are and how we often rank high in giving per capita than most any other city. Have you found that to be the case and why do you think it's that way?

Absolutely that's the case. I ask myself all the time why that is the case. I wish I knew the why, but I know it is true. What we're trying to do at the Community Foundation is notch up that giving even more. Because we have such a giving community all around us -- the United Way campaign and other big initiatives -- we need to build on that. We need to ask those in our community who are generous to think even greater about how to move these world-class projects forward and we need to challenge those in our community who haven't stepped forward to really take ownership as well.

We've lost some leaders in the last 12 months -- Houston Blount, Hall Thompson, Bill Ireland, Virginia Samford -- these were incredibly generous with their time and their resources. We have to honor their legacy by stepping forward and filling their huge shoes. The good news is we've got this giving spirit and now let's take it to the next level.

Do you see the foundation as more of a charitable organization or more of an economic development organization?

About three years ago we were at our national conference of community foundations and we started hearing about this economic development, job creation role. When you think about it, so many of issues we deal with really lead back to jobs, doesn't it? So, yes, we absolutely see our role as creating an environment where jobs can grow, where jobs can flourish. If this is the kind of community where jobs will stay and jobs can grow because they believe they can attract the best employees, then that's economic development. That has been an "Aha!" moment for all of us.

Do you get the sense that there is momentum in Birmingham today?

Oh, I think so. I'm a Pollyanna, I'll admit it. I'm just hearing all around that there is a new attitude in our community. There is an attitude that is acknowledging we are a unique community, that we have tremendous assets to build on and a sense of pride. Those ingredients are things you can really build on. If we sit back and talk about problems and issues, it takes all of your energy. Now you've got so many positive things you can point to happening in every direction. It encourages you to tackle the challenging issues like education, health issues and other problems.

The foundation is helping tackle those problems but you also have a front-row seat to the generosity that exists here?

We see nonprofits that are grass-roots with this spirit of giving. We see donors with this spirit of giving. When you're always seeing that value system out in the community, you just know there is a bright future ahead. And we see it every single day. It comes from places you don't expect. We're blessed to be in this position.